“I did it to...” He could not complete his words. His reasons were now so jumbled in his mind that he could not unravel them. Robert looked at Duncan, helpless to explain the whole of it. Duncan poured more of his favorite wine into Robert’s cup and nodded.
“Ye may have begun this as a way to get from Struan what he would no’ give ye freely, but that is no’ why ye do this now.”
“’Tis worse than that, Duncan. Truly worse,” he confessed as he sat down in a chair next to the table where Duncan now sat. “I wanted her because she was Sandy’s wife.” He put the cup down on the table and, leaning over, ran his hands through his hair. Holding his head, he rubbed his temples, trying to ease the tightness there.
“Coveting yer brother’s wife? ’Tis surely a grave sin. Didthe good Faither Cleirach give ye penance for that?” He could hear the laughter, completely inappropriate for the discussion, in the laird’s voice.
“How much do ye ken?” Robert asked, lifting his gaze to meet Duncan’s.
“All of it. Mayhap even more than ye ken yerself.”
“Then why do ye support me in this?” Duncan frowned at him. “Do no’ deny it, Duncan. Ye have pushed and pointed me in directions I would no’ have taken since the day I arrived here. If ye are Struan’s oldest friend and staunchest ally, why do ye do it?”
Duncan stood and walked over to the hearth, staring into the flames for a moment before he spoke. Without turning his head, he answered.
“Because I can tell right from wrong and he wronged ye deeply. I dinna ken his reasons, and they must be clear to him, but I dinna agree with what he haes done to ye these last eight years.”
“But, Duncan, if ye back me in this folly, it could bring war between the MacKendimens and the MacKillops. How can ye risk such a thing...?” Robert could not say the words but they hung between them in the air. For me.
“Is it folly, lad? To right a wrong? To do what I can to give ye back the place ye should have within yer family? And to help the lass who haes suffered in her own way because of the same mistake by Struan? Is that so foolish?”
“She haes no idea,” he said, answering Duncan’s original question.
“Of yer feelings or motives for marrying her? Or do ye speak of the rightful place ye deserve within the MacKendimens?” Duncan walked to the table once more and sat across from him.
“All of those things and more. And I have no’ the courage to tell her.”
“She haes the courage to hear the truth from ye, Robert. She haes faced down a demon and lived through it. Surely a tale of love would be less frightening than that?”
Robert looked across the table and snorted. “Is there nothing that ye dinna ken?”
“No’ much,” Duncan said with a laugh. “And what I dinna ken, the Lady Margaret does.”
“Do ye share all with her? Even this knowledge?” He was not sure that he wanted his and Anice’s story known by anyone but the laird, Ada, and the priest. Duncan stood and walked around the table to Robert. Reaching out to him, the laird grasped his hand and pulled him to his feet.
“I learned many, many years ago that ’twas definitely less painful to simply tell that woman what she wished to ken, rather than struggle to keep things from her. Aye, Robert, she kens as much as I do about ye and yer lady wife.” Duncan put his arm around Robert’s shoulders and guided him to the door. “And ye have her formidable support as much as ye have mine.”
“Even if it brings war?”
Duncan laughed now and put his hand on the handle of the door. “I hold thrice as much land and that many more warriors than Struan can call to face me. He may be a stubborn old man, but he is no’ stupid. Mayhap my backing will cause him to think about his reasons for treating ye as he haes and to consider his options once more for the good of his clan.”
The laird pulled open the door and stepped into the hallway.
“Now, ye had best get yerself to yer room before Lady Margaret comes looking for ye herself.”
He turned and held out his hand. Duncan took it and pulled him into a hug.
“My thanks for all ye have done for me, Duncan.”
“’Twill be thanks enough if ye tread carefully as I taught ye and settle this between ye and Anice and ye and Struan.”
Robert nodded, for he could force no words from his tightened throat. He was touched beyond belief at Duncan’s support for him and Anice. He turned and followed the corridor to his room. Not knowing what to expect, he knocked. He took a deep breath and tried to let the wine he’d drunk in the hall and in the solar calm his ragged nerves. He felt like a bridegroom after the ceremony today and the celebration tonight, but he knew that no bride’s welcome awaited him this night.
“Come,” her soft voice filtered through the door and he pushed against it.
The soft glow of many candles lit the room and the smell of freshly laid rushes reached him where he stood. He inhaled their aroma and recognized the full and powerful scent of roses. Lady Margaret had worked her wonders on the room after they’d left for the meal and she had turned it into a wedding-night bower for them. If she knew the truth of their situation, then why had she done this?
“She said that every bride and groom deserved such a start to their marriage.” Anice’s voice traveled to him in the quiet and he finally found her in one corner of the room. “I did not have the heart to tell her the truth.”
